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Because now I don’t want to let her go.
“What’s wrong with you?” Gunner asked, and at first, I thought he was talking to me, but then I realized he was looking at Rachel, whose face had grown a couple shades lighter.
“We need to get the doc out here,” I said, gesturing to the darkening wet spot on her shirt. Her hands were bleeding pretty bad, too, and I’m sure her feet were cut to hell. The woman had taken a beating to escape, and honestly, it was as admirable as it was stupid.
“I’ll call her,” Gunner grunted, eyeing Rachel one last time before disappearing around the front of the house.
“Her,” Rachel mumbled under her breath. She clearly didn’t know that I had supersonic hearing, but I let it go, leading her in the opposite direction. I wasn’t really that worried about her taking in the landscape, because I know she’d already done that. She was an intelligent, cunning woman, and the proof was in the credentials she had as a private investigator.
I ripped open the side door, trying to ignore the chemistry still burning between us as I put my hand on her lower back and guided her into the mud room. It led to the basement door and was the best way for her not to see the rest of the house inside. After all, this wasmyfucking house.
It was under my fake name, which made it even easier to hide, and I intended to keep my private abode out of the underworld… But with us suddenly on Victor Sanchez’s radar… Who knew what was going to happen?
She hesitated at the top of the stairs, scrutinizing the lock system. “This is a lot of deadbolts…”
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug, ignoring the row of locks. “Come on.” I swung the door open and ushered her in. She moved at a snail’s pace down the steps, and I realized pretty quickly that she was leaving a trail of bloody footprints.
Jesus, she really fucked herself up.
I reached for her, catching her arm. She let out a surprised breath, but I didn’t stop, sweeping her into my arms.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, squirming in my arms. “Put me down.”
I shook my head. “You hurt your feet—and also, I don’t want to have clean up a bunch of damn footprints.” She quit her squirming then, giving in to me carrying her to the bed. I tried my best to ignore the feminine scent of vanilla wafting from her, setting her gently onto the bed. “Doc will be here soon, but you’re gonna have to strip down.”
“No,” Rachel said defiantly. “There’s no way in hell I’m doing that.”
I rolled my eyes. “But you were good with me taking your pants off in the middle of the woods?”
She hesitated, biting her lower lip. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“Right,” I snorted. “Whatever you say, princess.”
“I don’t like that nickname,” she muttered as I lifted each of her feet, taking in the broken skin mixed with dirt and debris.
“That’s too bad,” I said, heading toward the bathroom. “I’m not changing it.”
She let out some sort of frustrated grunt as I headed for the bathroom to grab some things to clean her up. Linley, Will’s lady, would be there soon, but I could still help her out by cleaning the wounds up to the best of my ability.
As I stepped back out of the bathroom, my arms full, Rachel sat with her back to me, her shoulders slumped. She hadn’t obeyed me when I told her to strip down, and as much as that annoyed me, I decided not to push it this time. I’d take care of her feet first. She didn’t look up at me as I rounded the bed, stopping in front of her. Her eyes were focused on her hands, and the defiant woman that I had faced when I’d first brought her here was slowing breaking…
And I didn’t like it.
I couldn’t read the look on Rachel’s face as I knelt before her, setting the bowl of warm soapy water at her feet. “I’m gonna start with your feet. I don’t know what kind of shit you ran through. The last thing we need is an infection.”
Rachel nodded as I lifted her left foot, taking in the marred skin. “How bad is it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Depends on what you define as bad, princess.”
She glared at me for the nickname. “Lose my foot, bad.”
“Well, then it’s not bad,” I chuckled, beginning to remove the dirt and debris. She winced as the rag brushed the exposed layers of her wounds. “I’m sure you’ve had much worse than this.”
“Yeah, I—”
Footsteps coming down the stairs cut the conversation short, and I braced for the shit I was about to receive from my brothers.
“So glad to see that you caught the runaway,” Viper grunted as he entered the room, dawning his mask. I knew that I should have mine on, but at this point, it didn’t matter. She had seen enough of me to probably recognize me anywhere.
